IRISH: a Bad Boy Fighter Romance (24 page)

Now they just made me proud because he never noticed a single one of them.

I was sure the men in the waiting room were already texting their buddies that they had the same baby doctor as Knox King O’Connor, and even that sent a ripple of pride through my chest.

“I think Melody, Jessica and Charlotte might come over. Kyle and his wife too with their little girl.”

“Sounds like a good time,” Knox replied with a smile. We got to the car and he opened the back door for me, helped me inside and slid into the seat next to me. He told the driver to take us home and I felt a weight off my shoulders.

I’d been worried he would think it was bad luck to be apart for his fight.

He leaned over, kissed me again and murmured to my stomach, “Just don’t you dare decide to come out while I’m not home.”

“It will be fine, I’ll have more than a week to go. You won’t miss a thing,” I told him. Of course I could be wrong, but I didn’t want that to mess with his head.

***

The night of the big fight came quickly and I had our cook make a ton of snacks and drinks for our impromptu party. We gathered in the man cave at the back of the house with its huge television and room for everybody to watch.

I lounged on the sofa and let Jessica kind of take over running the show. She and Katie hit it off like crazy and seemed to work well together.

In fact I wasn’t surprised when part way through the night Katie came over and flopped on the seat next to me.

“I have a job,” she said. She looked much better than I’d ever seen, she’d put on weight and her eyes seemed lively and bright.

“What? That’s amazing! Where?” I asked.

“Your old place actually,” she said with a grin.

“George’s?”

“That’s the one! He says hi by the way. He’s going to teach me how to be a bartender.”

I was happy but frowned. “What about your addiction?”

“I’m a crack head, not a booze hound,” she laughed. “I know it seems like I might be tempted, but I really hate alcohol.”

“I’m so happy for you then,” I said and leaned towards her and gave her a hug.

“Thanks,” she said. “I should see if Jessica needs some help. I’ve been getting to know Charlotte too. I think we’re going to work well together.”

“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “And I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Katie replied. “Sis.”

I smiled and watched her walk away. It was the first time she’d ever called me sister and it meant so much to me. More than she’d ever know maybe.

Melody came and sat down with Jake Junior. He was so busy these days and Melody looked like she was getting more sleep finally that it gave me some hope.

“How are you feeling?” she asked as Jake squirmed and tried to get down.

“I’m good, let me hold him,” I said with my arms outstretched.

“If you think you can,” she laughed. “He’s on high speed these days.”

I did my best, but little Jake was down off my lap in no time. I laughed and grabbed at him, “Hey, get back here.”

He turned and looked at me with his huge chocolate brown eyes and giggled.

I got up to catch him before he crawled away and felt a sharp pain in my stomach as I did.

“Oh,” I exhaled and sat back down. Melody jumped up, grabbed Jake and looked at me.

“Was that a contraction?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to lay down?”

“I don’t know,” I moaned and stood up carefully. Another pain ripped through me and I felt a gush of liquid from between my legs. “Oh god, what happened?”

“Your water broke. Damn, we’re good luck for each other aren’t we?”

I laughed the best I could. “We must have slippery baby vibes or something.”

“I’m going to take little Jake to Charlotte and then I’m going to call Knox, is that okay?”

I nodded as another pain clenched my midsection. I didn’t want her to call Knox, I didn’t want him to miss his fight but I knew he’d be devastated if I had the baby without him.

Melody was back in a flash. “I talked to Jake and he’s going to let Knox know what’s going on. We’re taking you to the hospital right now.” She handed me a towel to clean up on our way out.

“I think I’ll be fine,” I said. “I feel much better actually.”

“Don’t even bother trying to fight this, Lennon, your baby is coming. I know I’ve only done it once but I know what happens after your water breaks.”

I followed her with Katie trailing behind me.

“You guys are welcome to stay here,” I told the rest of the guests on the way out. “I’ll keep you updated as best we can.”

They stood around me, hugged me and congratulated me. Katie ended up driving me to the hospital, she spoke non-stop the entire time, her nerves seemed on edge but she handled herself really well.

I kept checking my phone to see if Knox was on his way, but there wasn’t anything from his end.

We signed in and were rushed up to the birthing suite. I waited for Doctor LeBlanc and tried to keep my mind off things until Knox got there.

I just hoped he would be in time.

Chapter Fifty Five

Knox

I hated leaving her but I had to go beat the shit out of the mouthy little prick who was calling me down all over the news.

Lennon understood, I knew she did.

It was an attack on my honor and I had to nip it in the bud before a bunch of other fuckers decided to challenge my position.

Jake rubbed my shoulders in the dressing room before the fight. “Don’t let him get in your head space,” he told me. “You’ve got this, you know it.”

“I know,” I said, “I can’t wait to break him down.”

The crowd was massive, the entire arena was filled to the brim and celebrities and politicians bunched up around the first few rows of the seating.

The announcer yelled our names and stats and we came out of our opposite directions towards the ring.

I danced around on the balls of my feet trying to get energy flowing and my rage up. I was battling the nagging concern I had in the back of my head that I would miss out on something if Lennon needed me.

He wasn’t that big in person.

That was the one thing that stood out for me about Robert Suarez when I met him in the center ring.

He looked tough though, he had that feral razor sharp hunger in his eyes that let me know he’d fought his way up from the streets just like me.

But fek him, I had more of a right to her here. I was better, I was faster, and I was stronger.

And I didn’t need to be an expert to realize it.

I moved back to my corner and noticed the look of horror on Jake’s face.

“What the fek is goin on?” I asked. The fight was about to start and Jake looked like he was going to pass out.

“It’s Lennon,” he said and shut off his phone.

“What about her?” I exclaimed.

“The baby’s coming,” Jake said.

The announcer began the intro to the fight and the octagon girl strode through on her ridiculous high heels holding the round number up for the audience.

They went crazy, the energy in the arena was palpable and they were all chanting the same thing over and over.

“Knox! Knox! Knox!”

They were all there for me, to see me take down the young upstart.

I didn’t want to let them down, but I didn’t want to miss out on the birth of our first child. Lennon might forgive me but I would never forgive myself.

The girl walked past me, winked and I glared at her. She grimaced and looked away.

I began to unwrap my hands, to take the gloves off and rush to Lennon’s side.

Jake stopped me.

“She wouldn’t want you to walk away from him,” he told me, holding my shoulders and looking me in the eye. “You know how tough your wife is, she’d want you to finish this before you got to the hospital.”

“What if I miss the fekking birth, though?” I asked, desperate to calm the anxiety that was building in me gut.

“Believe me, it takes a lot longer than you think,” he told me. “I need you to get out there and kick Robert’s ass, you hear me?”

I nodded and focused to get my head back in the game.

I looked across the ring at Robert and felt that familiar focused heat rise behind my eyes. My vision tunneled and I saw red with Robert’s face in the middle of it.

He was the one thing standing between me and Lennon and our baby and he was going down.

I walked slowly to the center of the octagon, punched my fists against Robert’s, waited for the bell to ring and waited for the fight to start.

The second it rang, the referee stepped back and I dodged Robert’s meaty fist as it flew towards my face.

With singular determination I let my tunnel vision find his face. I leapt forward, lifted my foot and hit Robert in the face with a spinning back kick.

He wobbled and I followed through with a fierce left hook to the face. He went down hard and I dropped next to him to continue my onslaught of punches to his face.

The ref pulled me off and the crowd was insane with screaming energy.

Robert didn’t get back up, his eyes rolled back in his head and he was out like a light.

“Total knockout!” the ref screamed and lifted my hand above my head. “We might have a record tonight!”

The fans screamed even louder and chanted my name so hard the arena shook from the force.

The officials had their heads together and were all discussing something. I ran around the octagon with my hands in the air as Robert’s people helped him out.

The announcer strolled to the center of the ring, took a breath and said, “Tonight we have a world record knock out punch. Eight seconds! This fight lasted eight seconds! I give you the continued UFC heavyweight champion of the world ladies and gentlemen…Knox King O’Connor!”

He took my hand, raised it above my head and I wanted to get the hell out of there and get back to Lennon.

Without warning I jumped from the ring and jogged to the dressing room. I heard confused voices behind me, but I was gone. I was going to meet my baby.

As I exited the building, leaving Jake behind to handle the press, one reporter managed to find me.